A mile-long
Mardi Gras parade - complete with costumed krewes, floats and traditional green,
purple and gold beads - will take place Saturday, March 1, in downtown
Huntsville.

The 5 p.m. "Grand
Parade" will be Huntsville's first-ever Mardi Gras procession, and organizer
Marydae Sneed aims to make it a fun and memorable event.

"We want it
to be a traditional, float-heavy parade," Sneed told AL.com Friday. "Everyone
needs to be at least in some type of costume. It will also be one of the only
nighttime parades in Huntsville."

The parade
will be the highlight of a full day of New Orleans-style revelry.

Sneed is also
organizing a post-parade krewe party at Early Works Children's History Museum downtown.
The event will be catered by Shea's Express and include live music and cash
bar. Tickets are $50 each.

The day will
tentatively begin with a "Beignet Bash 5k" run starting at 10 a.m. Sneed is
seeking the city's OK for the run, which would start in front of Constitution
Village and weave through downtown, Old Town and Twickenham. Registration is
$20.

All proceeds
from the run and after-party will benefit Blount Hospitality House, a nonprofit
guest house for out-of-town families who have sick relatives at Huntsville
Hospital. Sneed is executive director of the Madison Street facility.

Her goal is
to make the Mardi Gras parade an early spring tradition in Huntsville, as it is
in Mobile, Fairhope, Decatur and several other Alabama cities.

"So many
people have been traveling out of the city to celebrate Mardi Gras," said
Sneed. "Huntsville needs its own Mardi Gras celebration. Hopefully, in years to
come, it will be part of the downtown scene and revitalizing that area."

Updated at 10:51 a.m. to correct the spelling of Marydae Sneed's last name.